WAITOMO COUNTY COUNCIL.

King Country Chronicle, Volume IV, Issue 304, 19 October 1910, Page 3

WAITOMO COUNTY COUNCIL.

SPECIAL MEETING. A special meeting of the above Council was held in the County Chambers, Te ICuiti, on Monday evening. Present Crs Scholes (chairman), Johnston, Srnythe, O'Dwyer, Boddie, Were, Gregg and Hoffman. Honikiwi Special Loan.—Crs Gregg and Were proposed that "For the purpose of metalling the several roacls in the Honikiwi special rating area, the Waitomo County Council hereby authorises the raising of a loan of £4OOO at per cent, per annum for a period of 36£ years and declares that the cost of raising said loan and the first year's interest on the loan to be payable out of the monies so raised." — Carried.

A loan of £SOO for the purpose of metalling a portion of the Otoro-hanga-Hangatiki road was on the motion of Crs Scholes and Gregg, also carried.

Mr H. W. Battley wrote re the last half mile of the Mairoahuiao-Mangao-taki road and the first portion of the Mangataoki Valley road stating that water in places was running along and across the road and also that there were some bad holes that required fixing up. The writer also stated that a very large amount of carting be done on these roads this spring and summer and he deemed it absolutely necessary that this work should be done, and asked that his available "thirds" be expended on the portions mentioned. —Crs O'Dwyer and Boddie moved that the amount of "thirds" available for the Mangaotaki-Poi Pio road be supplemented by the ordinary rates from the riding sufficient to put the road in a passable condition. — Carried.

A letter was received from the Hospital and Charitable Aid Department stating that it was suggested that the District Hospital Board should control matters in connection with Public Health instead of it being controlled by the various local bodies as at present. —Cr Boddie moved and Cr Hoffman seconded that the suggestion contained in the letter be carried out, and that they hand over the responsibility to the Hospital Board. —Carried.

Cr Boddie moved that the Common Seal of the Council be affixed to the document. Cr Were seconded. — Carried.

A letter was received from the Minister of Public Works re Te Kuiti-Mokau road adverting to a letter from the Council requesting that the-Order-in-Council dated 13th July, vestnig a portion of Te Kuiti-Mokau road in the Council be cancelled, stating that he had looked further into the matter but was of the opinion that as the portion of the' road in question which is five miles in length, is a good metalled road, and in settled country, its maintenance should be attended to by the local body, and expressed regret that he was unable to comply with the Council's wishes in the matter Resolved on the motion of Crs Hoffman and Gregg that the Council insure their men in the' New Zealand Accident Insurance Co., Ltd. Mr Ejl. G. Shakespeare wrote re the Waipa navigation scheme stating that in his opinion this scheme is at present detrimental to the settlers' interests and before its time. Also re boundaires for the loan area for metalling the Otorohanga road to Palmer's Hill. —Resolved that the matter be left in the clerk's hands to deal with. ' Mr F. P. Moorhouse wrote asking the Council to apply for a Governor's warrant authorising Mr R. C. Jordon to survey a road from his residence at Puketutu to the railway crossing, 10 chains through Rangitoto Tuhua 68d. —Proposed by Crs Boddie and Were that the request be acceded to.

The Minister for Tourist and Health Resorts notified the chairman that an amount of £SO had been authorised for the repairing of the worst places on the Hangatiki-Waitomo road and that the work would be carried out by the Public Works Department. Mr W. E, Blackett wrote re the fence on road requesting the Council to inform him of his position re same.—Resolved on the motion of Crs Gregg and Hoffman that the matter be left in the hands of the engineer to deal with.

Mr R. W. Neal brought before the Council the need for extending the Mairoa-Mangaotaki road to give an outlet for section 17, block viii., Mangamangero survey district. —Received. A letter was received from the district engineer stating that grant monies could only be spent on new work. Should a slip come down on a newly formed road, grant money could not be spent in moving same, and that it would come under the head of maintenance.

» Kesolved on the motion of Crs Boddie and Hoffman that Messrs Green and Beattie be notified, in reply to their letter, that they will be informed by the Council when any large metalling works are about to be undertaken in the County. The Hon. R. McKenize, Minister of Public Works, wrote, in reply to a petition from the settlers in the Orahiri district, asking for a £ for £ subsidy up to £750, for the purpose of metalling the Otorohanga-Pirongia road from the junction with the Hau-turu-Otorohauga road to the top of Paulsen's Hill, stating that the representations of the petitioners in this matter had been noted and would receive his careful consideration when compiling the public works estimates for the current financial year.

The clerk notified that he had received the provisional approval for the following loans under the New Zealand State Guaranteed Advances Board of £4OOO for the purpose of metaling various roads in the Honikiwi special rating area; £IOOO for metalling the Pukearuhe road from the junction of Te Kuiti-Awakino road: and £I4OOO for metalling various roads in the Mairoa riding. Mr J. Nixon, Waitomo, wrote asking the Council to have his "thirds" expended on the Hutewai road. —On the motion of Crs Gregg and Hoffman it was resolved that this be done.

Mr Wm. Hudson, Kio Kio, forwarded a statement of work done and wages due for repairing part of the Koi Kio main road, and stated that further improvements required to be done in the summer. The writer stated value of the Council's grant had been considerably augmented by work done by settlers free of cost. Crs Boddie and Were'moved that a committee be set up to go into the matter of the Council's contribution to the proposed Pirongia bridge and that the committee consist of the chairman and Cr Hoffman; also that they consult the Council's solicitor, and that they have power to act. — Carried. :

Proposed by Crs O'Dwyer and Johnston, that the matter of purchasing a road grader for the Otorohanga, Hangatiki and Te Rau-a-Moa ridings conjointly be left in the hands of Crs Scholes, Hoffman and Gregg, with power to act, the cost of grader to be borne by the three ridings mentioned. —Carried.

Proposed by Cr O'Dvvyer and Wore that the engineer be requested to immediately take estimates of work to be done "on the Pio Pio-Mairoa road as it is a most urgent work ana requires immediate attention so as to enable the settlers to use same.—Carried. With regard to the Mairoa loan, after a lengthy discussion, the chairman called for a show of hands as to whether the Council were satisfied that the original loan proposal was in the opinion of the ratepayers interested, not suitable. Those who considered the original loan proposal would be rejected numbered 4 and those Councillors who thought otherwise numbered 5. The original scheme was therefore rejected by the Council.—Mr Somerville and Major Lusk, who waited upon the Council explained the modified loan scheme and outlined the different allocations for the various roads and asked the Council to.sanction the loan. The chairman stated that the Council had no objection to the proposed scheme but would require a completed petition and he was prepared to call a special meeting of the Council to consider same, in a fortnight's time. Proposed by Crs Were and Boddie, that the proposals as brought forward by the deputation consisting of Messrs Somerville and Lusk, re scheme for metalling the Arapae and other roads be approved of by this Council when the chairman is satisfied that the petition is completed.—Carried. Resolved on the motion of Crs Hoffman and Gregg that all the accrued "thirds" in the Waitomo County be scheduled for expenditure. It was resolved on the motion of Crs O'Dwyer and Smythe that the amount of "thirds" available for Hunt's road be expended on same as the said road is in a very bad state.

Proposed by Crs Were and Boddie that the engineer schedule "thirds" as asked for by Messrs Anderson and Evans and spend same as requested.— Carried.

It was resolved on the motion of Crs Were and Gregg that the engineer schedule "thirds" on McColl's, Jacobs' and Hopkins' sections, Waipapa, and be empowered to spend same in wideening the Waipapa road.

Accounts as read were passed for payment.

Engineer's Report. —Tenders were called for widening portions of the Kohua, Arapae and Pungarehu roads and the lowest tenders were accepted for the works on the Kohua and Pungarehu roads. The only tender for the Arapae road, which was considerably above my estimate was not accepted. The contracts on the Faro, Kiekie and Hauturu-Otorohanga roads have been completed satisfactorily. The engineering survey for the expenditure of the grant on the Raurnuaku road has been made and the plans and specifications have been approved of by the Public Works Department. I have put men on to repair the worst places on the Kavva, Ouruwhero, Kio Kio, Kihikihi and Waitomo roads. There is a large amount of "thirds" available for expenditure in the Otorohanga riding and as nearly all the roads practically require reforming I would suggest that your Council purchase a road grader. The work can be done by the grader at less than half the cost by hand, and it makes a much better job. I have inspected the site of the proposed quarry reserve on the Arapae road. About 70 chains from the Pukearube junction there is a splendid face of easily worked limestone alongside of the road on the scenic reserve, and recommend that your Council acquire either one or two acres.

Treasurer's Report. —County Fund account, cr. balance at bank, £1505 15s lid; unpresented cheques, £IOO 14s Sd; total cr., £1405 Is 3d. Receipts during the past month amounted to £728 2s lid. Accounts presented for payment amounted to £634 0s sd. Te Kuiti Township Loan account, cr. balance, £l9B 17s 9d. Mangaorino Loan account, cr. £33 2s Sd. Waitomo County Interest account, cr. £4l 9s.